The world’s most powerful passports for 2024 so far

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What’s red on the outside, purple on the inside, and grants you access to 195 destinations around the world visa-free?

It’s the Singapore passport, and it’s just been named the world’s most powerful travel document in a quarterly ranking of the passports with the most international clout.

For the past 19 years, the Henley Passport Index, created by London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners, has been tracking global freedoms in 227 countries and territories around the world, using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The next passports to come close to Singapore’s global swag are those of Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, which jointly hold the No.2 spot and whose citizens can enjoy visa-free travel to 192 destinations.

Then, at third place in the ranking, come South Korea, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, all of which have the privilege of seamless jaunts to 191 destinations.

The UK, which in the bygone days of 2014 held the top spot jointly with the United States, is in fourth place (190 destinations), alongside New Zealand, Norway, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland.

Australia and Portugal share the No.5 spot (189 destinations) while the US has dropped down to eighth place, with visa-free access to a modest 186 destinations.

The widening gap

While Singapore’s magic number of 195 is a record high for both Singapore and the ranking, down at the other end of the scale, new lows are also being hit. Afghanistan has long been ranked